THE naivety of our leaders seems to spring eternal from the fountain of ignorance. For their answer to every overseas security issue is bomb, bomb and bomb again.

Cold steel and high explosives are an unintelligent and evil response to a persistently fundamental problem... poverty and inequality.

These bugbears must be significant drivers for the taking up of arms against those so arrogantly assured of their own superiority, namely the extremists of neo-liberalism which earns billions for the arms producers.

Politicians don’t like to be reminded, but war crimes are not the preserve of our enemies and with this in mind all countries need to take stock of their own indiscretions concerning barbarism over the centuries, from the savagery of the Crusaders to the bombing of civilians on whichever side they happen to be.

If the trillions wasted on wars had instead been given to the people, those wars would never have been fought as extremism has no place among prosperity.

Global unemployment has risen from one fifth to one third, so full employment is not an option and as poverty and desperation increases they act as a recruiting sergeant for the extremists.

Tom Scaife, Manor Drive, York